Hermetic sealing system for containers

ABSTRACT

A system includes a lid that moves in a plane parallel to the mouth of a container, a mechanism for activating the lid between the open and closed positions, and a pneumatic seal that acts on the surfaces opposite the lid, and the mouth in the closed position. The mouth has a ring that protrudes laterally from the mouth. The ring and the lid are equipped with an upper latch and a lower latch to hold the lid in the closed position. The pneumatic seal has an elastic protective cover and the mechanism for activating the lid are linked to a remote control device.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a hermetic sealing system for fixed orunfixed containers for all types of products, in which pressure may ormay not intervene. The tubular configuration of the container couplingflange, allows exchanging this system for those currently used incontainers. The modular design of each element permits the exchange ofcoupling means required for each type of mouth depending on the productbeing handled. The fastening system of the sealing together with thepneumatic system, which ensures the tightness of the assembly, allow theeffect of pressure inside the container to not affect the sealingthereof.

The possibility to remotely actuate the opening/closing of this systemmakes it possible to manoeuvre it without having to access the mouth,which on most containers is at their top.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The fact that the mouths of the containers are located at the top andvery often on curved metallic surfaces (frequently wet), can causeserious accidents during the loading/unloading process, since thisimplies that an operator must access them and manually perform theopening and closing maneuver.

Access to it, apart from the difficulty due to its height, involves theplacement of an access element (stairs in most cases) that in certaincircumstances is both an additional risk as well as an additional costfor the equipment.

There are currently opening and closing systems, using a large screwthat is manually operated by a lever, both tighten the closing lid overthe mouth, with the risk (which has caused numerous accidents) of thewear of the thread rib either by the use or by rests of filling productsbeing deposited, causing wear on the system and its random detachment,especially in those containers to which an inner pressure is applied todischarge the product quickly and effectively.

This manual system requires the operator to maneuver on high, uneven(spherical) and sliding (moisture, product residues) surfaces, so thatthe force created from closing it presents a high probability ofaccidents.

Other known sealing systems comprise longitudinal guides on thecontainer mouth on which a plate, forming the closing lid, moves like aguillotine.

In order to achieve certain tightness for the lid in these systems, inthe longitudinal guides are arranged rubber joints that are subjected toa progressive wear due to rubbing of the lid during subsequent openingand closing movements. Furthermore, between the joints and the lid theremust be a certain tolerance so said joint permits displacement of thelid, thus these systems do not ensure total sealing of the closure andare not effective in those cases in which pressure is applied inside thecontainer during product discharge operations.

In other known sealing systems the lid has a lateral extension to bemounted on a rotation axis, causing the rotation of the lid by means ofa cylinder or other actuator element, so that the lid also acts as aguillotine with a rotatory movement instead of a longitudinal one inthis case.

In these systems sealing means formed by a pneumatic seal arrangedbetween the mouth and the lid and conforming a pneumatic sealing areused. Obviously, this pneumatic joint or seal provides greater tightnessthan typical rubber gaskets, by exerting a pressure against the mouth ofthe container and the surface facing the lid.

In the cited background, the lid requires a certain clearance foropening and closing, which determines a certain mobility of the lid whenusing a static rubber gasket and a lack of tightness in the sealing and,in case of using a pneumatic seal, force must be transmitted to the lidand its guide means, which causes misalignment of the lid.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The hermetic sealing system for containers, object of the invention, ofthe type comprising a lid that moves in a plane parallel to the mouth ofthe container, means of activating the lid between the open and closedpositions, and a pneumatic seal which acts on the surfaces opposite thelid and the mouth in the closed position, presents constructive featuresaimed at securing the lid, in the closed position, with respect to themouth, preventing its perpendicular movement with respect to the planeof the mouth, ensuring proper sealing of the closure by the pneumaticseal.

Another objective of the invention is to allow remote control of themeans for activating the lid, in order to facilitate opening and closingactions by the user and to prevent accident risks involving user accessto the top area of the container due to manually carrying out theopening and closing manoeuvres.

To this end, according to the invention, the mouth of the container hasat its upper end a ring which protrudes at least the contour perimeterof the mouth and which forms an actuating surface for the pneumatic sealin the closed position of the lid, said ring comprising an upper latchcovering a portion of its length and simultaneously forming a stop andholding means for the front side of the lid when in the closed position.

This upper latch is supplemented with a fixed lower latch on the frontside of the lid and simultaneously forms a stop and holding means forthe rear area of the ring corresponding to the mouth of the containerwhen said lid reaches the closed position of the mouth.

The alternating upper and lower arrangement of the latches correspondingto both the ring and the rear area of the lid, using as a reference theadvancement direction of the lid to the closed position, determines thatin the closed position the lid is securely attached to the ring on themouth and unable to move in a perpendicular direction to the plane ofclosure, thus ensuring correct operation of the pneumatic seal andperfect tightness of the closure.

According to the invention the pneumatic seal is arranged within achannel defined for either the lid or the mouth ring, which isexternally closed by a protective covering in flexible material in orderto prevent rubbing of the pneumatic seal against the mouth ring or thelid respectively and consequently to prevent an accelerateddeterioration of said pneumatic seal.

In one embodiment of the invention the protective cover presents a“U”-like section, the wings of which are housed in the channel andarranged between the side walls of the channel and the pneumatic seal,and whose core outwardly overlies the pneumatic seal.

Another feature of the invention consists in incorporating a remotecontrol device into the system, for the remote control of the means foractivating the sealing lid in order to prevent the user having to climbonto the container reservoir in order to manually open or close the lid,with the consequent risk of accident.

According to the invention, the upper latch fixed to the front area ofthe ring has front through holes for evacuating any particlesaccumulated on the ring when the lid is in the open position to theoutside. Thus during the closing operation, the lid moves the particlesaccumulated on the ring toward said upper latch, evacuating them throughthe holes defined in said upper latch, and preventing said particlesfrom progressively accumulating between the front end of the lid and theupper latch attached at the front end of the ring, which may evenprevent the lid from reaching the closed position.

In one embodiment of the invention the lid has nozzles or blowers at itsfront end, which are connected to a circuit supplying pressurized air.During the closing operation, said nozzles project pressurized air overthe mouth ring, removing accumulated particles from the ring in order toprevent them from accumulating between the front end of the lid and theupper latch becoming an impediment to the smooth closing of the lid.

According to the invention, the sealing system comprises an anti-trapsafety system in order to prevent damage in the case of trapping of anoperator or any other object situated at the mouth of the containerduring the closing operation of the lid.

Said safety device may be a pressure sensor arranged on the front areaof the lid, suitable means for detecting overpressure on the means foractivating the lid, or other equivalent means.

Finally, it should be mentioned that the remote control device may beelectrical, mechanical, hydraulic or pneumatic depending on the type ofactivating means used to move the lid.

DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

In order to complement the description that is being carried out andwith the purpose of facilitating the understanding of thecharacteristics of the invention, the present description is accompaniedby a set of drawings wherein, by way of a non-limiting example, thefollowing has been represented:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the sealing systemwith the lid in the closed position, said lid being rotationallyactivated by a pneumatic cylinder.

FIG. 2 shows a view similar to the previous one with the lid in the openposition.

FIG. 3 shows a transparent view plan of the sealing system to allow forvisualisation of the area of action of the cylinder on the lid.

FIG. 4 corresponds to section A-A of the sealing system referenced inthe preceding figure.

FIG. 5 shows a section of a portion of the lid showing the configurationand arrangement of the protective cover of the pneumatic seal withregards to the channel housing of said pneumatic seal.

FIG. 6 shows an elevation view of the sealing system mounted in positionfor use on a container, namely a drum or a tank, which is only partiallyshown.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the means for activating the lid, providedwith an anti-trap safety device.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

In the embodiment shown in the accompanying figures, the hermeticsealing system for containers comprises a lid (1) that moves in a planeparallel to the mouth (2) of a container (3), partially shown in FIG. 5.

The lid (1) is mounted on a vertical axis (4) of rotation and is movedbetween open and closed positions shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 by actuationmeans, in this case represented by a pneumatic cylinder (5).

The mouth (2) has a ring (6) at its upper end that protrudes laterallyfrom the contour of the mouth (2) and that forms a surface for theaction of the pneumatic seal (10) in the closed position of the lid.

The ring (6) comprises an upper latch (7) with an “L”-like section,which covers a portion of its length and forms a stop and holding meansof the front area of the lid (1), when the lid reaches the closedposition shown in FIG. 1.

The lid (1) comprises a lower latch (8) at its rear area, with an“L”-like section, which simultaneously forms a stop and holding meansfor the ring (6) when said lid reaches the closed position shown in FIG.1.

In this closed position the upper (7) and lower (8) latches ensure theposition of the lid (1) relative to the ring (6) of the mouth (1),preventing its vertical displacement.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the lid (1) presents a ringchannel (9) at its inner surface in which a pneumatic seal (10) providedfor hermetically sealing the lid (1) with respect to the mouth (1) andmore particularly relative to the ring (6) of the mouth (1) is housed.

Said channel (9) is closed externally by a protective cover (11) inflexible material that prevents rubbing of the pneumatic seal (10)against the ring (6) and thus the accelerated deterioration of said thepneumatic seal (10).

In the example shown in FIG. 5, the protective cover (11) has a “U”section, whose wings are housed in the channel (9) and whose coreexternally covers the pneumatic seal (10).

The sealing system has a remote control device (12), for the remotecontrol of the pneumatic cylinder during the opening and closingoperations.

As mentioned above, said remote control device may be of different typesdepending on the actuator means employed for activating the lid. In thisspecific case, the remote control device, represented in FIG. 7,comprises solenoid valves (12), operable by a manual or remote control,arranged between equipment (13) for supplying pneumatic pressurizedfluid and pressurized inlet and outlet openings of the pneumaticcylinder (5), for the opening and closing operations.

As can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 4, the upper latch (7) has front throughholes (71) for evacuating any particles accumulated on said ring (6)during the closing operation of the lid to the outside, thus preventingthese particles from being caught between the front end of the lid (1)and the upper latch (7), which may impede the sealing of the lid (1).

With this same purpose, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the lid (1)has on its front end nozzles or blowers (14) which project air over thering (6) during the closing operation, eliminating any accumulatedparticles on the ring (6). In a preferred embodiment these nozzles orblowers (14) are connected to a branch of the pneumatic circuit forsupplying pneumatic pressure to the cylinder (5) during the closingoperation.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the sealing system has an anti-trapsafety device represented by a pressure switch (15) connected to thepneumatic circuit for supplying the cylinder (5), automatically causingthe arrest of the closing of the lid (1) in the case of detecting anoverpressure higher than the pressure required to close the lid, in saidcircuit.

Once the nature of the invention as well as an example of preferredembodiment have been sufficiently described, it is stated for allpertinent purposes that the materials, form, size and arrangement of theelements described are susceptible to changes, provided these do notinvolve an alteration of the essential characteristics of the inventionthat are subsequently claimed.

1. Hermetic sealing system for containers of the type comprising a lid(1) that moves in a plane parallel to the mouth (2) of the container,means (5) for activating the movement of the lid (1) between an openposition and a closed position, and a pneumatic seal (10) acting againstthe facing surface of the lid (1) and the mouth (2) when said lid (1) isin the closed position; characterized in that: the mouth (2) has a ring(6) at its upper end that protrudes laterally from the contour of themouth (2) and that forms a surface for the action of the pneumatic seal(10) in the closed position of the lid (1), the ring (6) comprises anupper latch (7), which covers a portion of its length and forms a stopand holding means of the front area of the lid (1) in the closedposition of the lid (1), the lid (1) comprises at its front area, alower latch (8) which forms a stop and holding means for the ring (6)when said lid reaches the closed position, preventing in combinationwith the upper latch the displacement of the lid perpendicular to theclosing plane and, the lid (1) has a ring channel (9) for receiving thepneumatic seal (10), whose channel is externally closed by a protectivecover (11) in flexible material for preventing the rubbing of thepneumatic seal (10) against the ring (6).
 2. System according to claim1, characterized in that the means for activating the lid (1) areassociated with a remote control device (12) for its activation duringthe opening and closing operations.
 3. System according to claim 1,characterized in that the protective cover (11) has an “U” section,whose wings are housed in the channel (9) and whose core externallycovers the pneumatic seal (10).
 4. System according to claim 1,characterized in that the upper latch (7) has front through holes (71)for evacuation to the outside, during the closing of the lid, of anyparticles accumulated on the ring (6).
 5. System according to claim 1,characterized in that the lid (1) has at its front end nozzles orblowers (14), connected to a pressurized air supply circuit and whichproject pressurized air over the ring (6) during the closing of the lidfor removing any accumulated particles on the ring (6).
 6. Systemaccording to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises an anti-trapsafety device for stopping the closing operation of the lid in the caseof trapping of an operator or object located at the mouth of thecontainer during the closing of the lid.